DHS Deletes Optimus Prime Post Amid Hasbro Anger, Racism Accusation - Newsweek
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has deleted a post that promoted self-deportation and was stylized to look like a Transformers movie poster featuring the character Optimus Prime following accusations of racism.
The image shows Optimus Prime, as well as a Sikh man, the words "Self-deport or find out" and "Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr. Singh." The man in the image is a depiction of a real man named Harjinder Singh, who was involved in a traffic incident in which three people died.
The post, shared on September 9, quickly prompted backlash and accusations of racism from lawmakers, and was later deleted.
In response to a request for comment from Newsweek, a spokesperson for DHS said: "What nonsensical drivel. Perhaps Newsweek should spend the same amount of time researching their stories as they do wringing their hands in faux outrage."
"Freedom from illegal alien crime is the right of all Americans," the spokesperson said.
The image shows Optimus Prime, wearing a DHS badge, on the left-hand side, and a man, with the skyline of New York City in the background. In the center of the image is the text "Self-deport or find out."
At the bottom of the poster is the text "America for Americans," and underneath that, "Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr. Singh."
Senator Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, wrote on X that DHS' advertising campaign is "hateful, disgraceful and un-American." Meanwhile, the press office for California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote in a post on X: "This is disgusting. Trump’s government is trafficking in racist propaganda targeting the Sikh community."
In response to Schiff’s criticism, the official account for DHS posted on X: "This may be the laziest lie you’ve ever told and that’s saying something."
That post was accompanied by an image of Harjinder Singh. On August 12 of 2025, Singh, an Indian-born truck driver, was involved in a traffic incident in Florida where he made a U-turn on the Florida Turnpike, crashed into a minivan and killed three people.
The post on X from DHS mentions that incident. A DHS spokesperson told Newsweek: "Harjinder Singh is an illegal alien from India who should never have been in our country. He made an illegal U-turn on a Florida highway in his tractor-trailer, causing a brutal wreck that killed three people in August 2025. He had been granted a CDL by California."
In the image, Singh wears the same clothes as the man in the Transformers style poster featuring Optimus Prime.
After the incident, DHS said that Singh had entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 2018 and obtained a commercial driver’s license in California.
Singh later pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide and manslaughter charges and remained in custody after being denied bond.
After the crash, Secretary of State Marco Rubio paused the issuance of work visas for foreign individuals seeking to become commercial truck drivers.
The BBC reported at the time that after the incident, there was an increase in harassment against Sikh drivers.
There was extensive criticism of the Optimus Prime post from lawmakers, including Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, who wrote on X: "More than 160,000 people in the United States share the surname Singh. When the government demonizes that name, a name carried by so many Sikh families, it fuels xenophobia and casts suspicion on an entire community."
Congresswoman Grace Meng, a New York Democrat, meanwhile wrote on X that the post was "blatant racism," and said that she condemns "DHS’s words and imagery in the strongest possible terms."
Hasbro, the toy company known for the iconic Transformer brand and others like Monopoly and My Little Pony, issued a statement which did not explicitly mention DHS, but referenced recent posts using the Optimus Prime character's likeness and that they were "done without permission and do not represent the Transformers brand or Hasbro."
"Optimus Prime is a beloved character who represents humility, leadership, compassion and justice," the statement read. The DHS also shared another image designed to look like a movie poster on Wednesday, captioned "Transformers Age of Deportation," which is still visible. The post alongside the image said: "DHS is getting the worst of the worst off of America's roads."
Posts from the DHS and other government accounts have routinely prompted backlash through President Donald Trump’s second term in office, as well as concerns over copyrighted material, whether it has been through the use of songs or likenesses.
Earlier this year, the DHS and White House social media accounts were criticized after sharing posts which reference the phrase "We'll have our home again," which researchers and civil rights groups said echoed material associated with white nationalist movements.
In a separate incident, the DHS was criticized for posting an edited photograph of the United States men's national soccer team to include, between the goal and the players, what appears to be the U.S.-Mexico border wall, captioned "Built the wall." That post was later deleted.
In 2025, The White House and DHS were criticized after using pop star Olivia Rodrigo's song "All American B***" in a video that urged undocumented immigrants to self-deport. Rodrigo objected and said, "don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda."
The White House and DHS were also criticized after sharing content featuring Sabrina Carpenter's song "Juno" alongside footage of migrant arrests. Carpenter said at the time: "This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda."
Earlier this week, the White House was criticized following the launch of a new online arcade that featured games modeled on classic formats and tied to the Trump agenda. One, entitled Build the Wall, resembled the block stacking game Tetris and was removed following a copyright threat from The Tetris Company.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Rebecca Flood and Tony Phillips.
